Court records shed some light on what happened during a shooting last week at a West U.S. Highway 192 Target store that left one person dead.
The person shot was one of four occupants of a black Audi that rolled up to the store at 4795 W. Irlo Bronson Highway Wednesday at about 7 p.m. Another occupant of the vehicle was injured by bullet shrapnel.
The other two, Michael Gomez, 18 and Joseph Lowe, 19, were arrested and charged with misdemeanor petit theft, after an Osceola County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit showed the two entered the store in hoodies and masks, and stole a frozen pizza and Pokemon cards.
Per the report, Sheriff’s deputies responded to the store after reports of a suspicious vehicle with an obscured tag in the Target parking lot, and contacted a store loss prevention manager, who confirmed the suspects were leaving the store with the stolen merchandise.
Deputies observed them get into the Audi, and during an attempt to apprehend them two deputies fired their weapons — as confirmed by Sheriff Marcos Lopez on the Wednesday night of the shooting.
According to Osceola County Fire/Rescue EMS, the four occupants in the car were transported to a local hospital, where one died of a gunshot wound.
Most of the store's parking lot was cordoned off with crime scene tape as the investigation went into the night. Witnesses said people were running from the store, so it was initially unclear if the shooting took place inside. Another witness in the parking lot reported seeing "a bunch of guys with guns and bulletproof vests."
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement took over the investigation from the Sheriff’s Office, and has yet to release any report.
Lowe was arrested on New Year’s Day 2018 in Kissimmee for driving a Cadillac Escalade reported stolen in Orange County; court records from that case showed he’d never had a driver’s license at that time.
